3 men found dead in Worcester apartment

Monday

Aug 4, 2014 at 7:24 PMAug 4, 2014 at 9:52 PM

By Kim Ring TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER — Neighbors say three men found dead Monday afternoon in an apartment on Outlook Drive were probably dead for some time before their bodies were discovered by a maintenance worker just before 2:45 p.m.

Police said the dead men's ages were 49, 54 and 55. Two were from Worcester and the third was from Dudley, police said.

Police said they believe the deaths were drug-related and they do not suspect foul play, though “the exact cause of death will not be determined until toxicology reports are completed,” they said in a news release.

In the release, police said they went to an apartment in the Washington Heights Community at 2:41 p.m. after a maintenance man reported finding two unresponsive men inside.

The worker had gone to the apartment for scheduled maintenance, police said, and entered with a master key after no one answered the door.

Police said they found two men dead in the front part of the apartment and another man dead in the rear part of the apartment, located at 67 Outlook Drive.

Neighbors said one of the men lived in the apartment and the other two were friends.

A foul smell occasionally wafted through the area as staff from the medical examiner's office clad head to toe in white protective gear removed the bodies, placing two inside a van and a third into a hearse.

Jeffrey Colzie said he knew the men and they were “good people” who got hooked on drugs. He'd last seen them on Friday and suspected they may have died sometime Saturday.

“The first of the month, every city, you get bodies piling up,” Mr. Colzie said, referring to people who are drug-addicted and receive a monthly assistance check.

He and several neighbors gathered in a courtyard and watched as the bodies, covered in white cloth, were removed.

Some of the neighbors said they hoped that what their children were witnessing would be a deterrent, should they ever consider using drugs, but, Mr. Colzie said, television news has “desensitized” many people to death.

It may be months before police can say for sure whether drugs were the cause of death.

“Under current circumstances, these results can take up to six months for final determination,” police wrote in the news release.

Police said the names of the men were being withheld pending notification of family members. Investigators were still at the apartment Monday evening conducting interviews and collecting evidence.

Brad Petrishen and Scott J. Croteau of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.